PENSACOLA, Florida – The Ouachita men's swimming & diving team cushioned its lead in the 2026 New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference Championships on Friday with strong showings in multiple events.
The Tigersharks head into the final day of the championships with a 53.5-point lead over second place Henderson State. The Tigershark women sit in third heading into Saturday.
Combined between the men's and women's teams, Ouachita totaled two event wins, eight top three finishes, four NCAA B standard qualifying times, and one new school record.
The winners came from
David Ware in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.53 and the men's 200 free relay team of
Sam Ragsdell,
Ian Redman Aguilar,
Vince Pal, and
David Ware.
The relay team shaved more than three seconds off its prelims time to take first with a time of 1:19.90, which was .02 away from a B cut and broke a school record, previously set in 2010.
Other top performers on Friday included:
- Tyler Andruss and Stefan Duca finished second and third in the 500 free, both clocking in with NCAA B standard times of 4:27.12 and 4:30.53, respectively.
- Following Ware in a tight 100 backstroke race, Sam Ragsdell took third at 49.58, Mikhail Lymar took fourth at 49.95, and Ethan Sparks took fifth at 50.06.
- Janna Moellenhoff had a podium finish in the women's 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:08.18.
- Justin Oulette clocked an NCAA B standard time in the men's 100 breaststroke with a third place finish at 55.16.
- Anna Phelps and Aurora Ruiz made the podium in the women's 200 butterfly. Phelps clocked a B cut time of 2:03.65 in third place. Ruiz finished seventh at 2:11.95.
- Colton Martinez, Vince Pal, and Caston Feazel all made the podium in the men's 200 butterfly in fourth, fifth, and seventh, respectively.
- The Tigersharks had four make the podium in men's three-meter diving, highlighted by an NCAA qualifying score from Elijah Donaldson in second place at 466.65. Gabriel Palomino finished fourth at 450.55. Carson Powers took fifth at 433.30. Sam Goins finished eighth at 302.90.
Saturday's schedule included prelims and finals for 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 1650 freestyle, and 400 freestyle relay. Prelims start at 10 a.m. Finals are set for 4 p.m. in Pensacola at the UWF Aquatic Center.
